Animal tag applicator

ABSTRACT

Described are an animal tag applicator, a device for advancing a strip of animal tags, a leg bending die for bending the legs of animal tags, and methods for applying an animal tag to a body part of an animal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/249,443, filed Sep. 30, 2011, entitled “Animal TagApplicator,” which claims priority to Provisional Patent Application No.61/410,038, filed Nov. 4, 2010, entitled “Mouse Tagger,” the entiredisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an applicator for an ear tag and amethod of applying an ear tag to an animal.

2. Related Art

Current pendant design ear identification tags for lab rodents andidentification tags that clip around the ears of lab rodents havevarious problems. For example, such tags may tear out, the animal mayget its claw caught under the side of the tag, the tag may catch onanother object, etc.

SUMMARY

According to a first broad aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a device comprising: an applicator frame for supporting a tagstrip, a die frame for receiving a die assembly and moveable in a firstvertical direction and a second vertical direction; a die assemblydisposed and mounted within the die frame so that the die assembly ismovable in the first vertical direction and the second verticaldirection relative to the die frame, the die assembly comprising a firstpincher and a second pincher that are rotatable in two oppositerotational directions with respect to each other; a die assembly stopfor stopping movement of the die assembly in the first verticaldirection when the die assembly reaches a stopped position, and an anvildisposed on the applicator frame configured to receive the tag stripthereon, the anvil configured to work cooperatively with the dieassembly when the first pincher and second pincher rotate in the twoopposite rotational direction with respect to each other to therebymanipulate tag legs extending outwardly from the tag strip.

According to a second broad aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method comprising the following steps: (a) supporting a tagstrip comprising tags having outwardly extending tag legs and lyinggenerally flat along at 0 degree reference plane on an anvil; (b)rotating a first pincher and a second pincher in opposite rotationaldirections to contact a pair of outwardly extending tag legs of one tagof the tag strip and bend the pair of tags on opposite sides of theanvil to thereby bend each leg of the pair of tag legs beyond 90 degreesrelative to the reference plane.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of theinvention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may bebetter understood, and in order that the present contribution to the artmay be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodimentsof the invention that will be described below and which will form thesubject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments inaddition to those described and of being practiced and carried out invarious ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology andterminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for thepurpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptionupon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present inventionare readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply byillustrating a number of exemplary embodiments and implementations,including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the presentinvention. The present invention also is capable of other and differentembodiments, and its several details can be modified in variousrespects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regardedas illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitutepart of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of theinvention and, together with the general description given above and thedetailed description given below, serve to explain the features of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an animal tag applicator accordingto an exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 2 is perspective view of the applicator of FIG. 1 according to anexemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an interior side view of the applicator of FIG. 1 in an openhandle position according to an exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an interior side view of the applicator of FIG. 1 in a closedhandle position according to an exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a pincher element according to anexemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of pincher elements in mated relationaccording to an exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the pincher elements of FIG. 6 disposedwithin a pincher frame according to an exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a cut-away view of the pincher assembly and pincher frame ofFIG. 7 mounted to the applicator of FIG. 1 in a starting positionaccording to an exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a cut-away view of the pincher assembly and pincher frame ofFIG. 7 mounted to the applicator of FIG. 1 in an intermediate positionaccording to an exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a cut-away view of the pincher assembly and pincher frame ofFIG. 7 mounted to the applicator of FIG. 1 in a second intermediateposition according to an exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a cut-away view of the pincher assembly and pincher frame ofFIG. 7 mounted to the applicator of FIG. 1 in an end position accordingto an exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 12A illustrates a starting position of the pincher assembly andpincher frame in the treatment process of a tag element according to anexemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 12B illustrates an intermediate position of the pincher assemblyand pincher frame in the treatment process of a tag element according toan exemplary disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 12C illustrates an end position of the pincher assembly and pincherframe in the treatment process of a tag element according to anexemplary disclosed embodiment;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Definitions

Where the definition of a term departs from the commonly used meaning ofthe term, applicant intends to utilize the definitions provided below,unless specifically indicated.

For the purposes of the present invention, directional terms such as“top”, “bottom”, “upper”, “lower”, “above”, “below”, “left”, “right”,“horizontal”, “vertical”, “upward”, “downward”, etc., are merely usedfor convenience in describing the various embodiments of the presentinvention.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “alpha-numeric”refers to identification codes including numbers and/or letters.Examples of alpha-numeric codes include: 132, ADB, 8A3, X24, etc.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “animal tag” refersto any type of tag attached to an animal. One example of an animal tagis an “ear tag”, which is an animal tag designed to be attached to anear of an animal.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “distal end” refersto the free end of a leg and the end of an animal tag applicator and theend of each of the components of the actuator that is held away from theuser when the animal tag applicator is in use.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “final verticalbend” and “finally vertically bent” refer to further bending partiallyvertically bent legs of an animal tag to a vertical position where legsof the tags may be inserted through the ear or other body part of ananimal.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “full squeeze”refers to a squeeze and release of a squeezable handle of a tagapplicator of the present invention that is sufficient to cause a tagstrip to advance by one location. The amount of force that is requiredfor a full squeeze may be dependent on several factors, including thespring force of the spring that biases apart the handle members of asqueezable handle of the present invention. The term “full squeeze” mayalso refer to a squeeze and release of a squeezable handle of a tagapplicator of the present invention, wherein, in some disclosedembodiments, the tag strip is manually advanced independent of thesqueezable handle.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “identificationcode” refers to a code that identifies an animal to which an animal tagof the present invention has been attached. The identification code mayalso include various information about the animal in addition to a codethat uniquely identifies the animal. For example, the identificationcode may include information about the date the animal was tagged, theparentage of the animal, the experiment being conducted on the animal,etc.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “partial squeeze”refers to a squeeze and release of a squeezable handle of a tagapplicator of the present invention that is not sufficient to cause atag strip to advance by one location. The term “partial squeeze” mayalso refer to a squeeze and release of a squeezable handle of a tagapplicator of the present invention, wherein, in some disclosedembodiments, the tag strip is manually advanced independent of thesqueezable handle

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “proximal end”refers to the end of a leg that joins the plaque to which the leg isjoined and to the end of an animal tag applicator and the end of each ofthe components of the actuator that is closest to the user when theanimal tag applicator is in use.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “sequential set ofanimal tags” refers to animal tags that are arranged in a tag strip ofanimal tags so that the respective codes of the animal tags form asequence. The codes of the animal tags may be human-readable and/ormachine-readable. In some disclosed embodiments of the invention, theanimal tags may be non-sequential.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “unibodyconstruction” or “unibody” refers to an animal tag or tag strip madefrom a single piece of material, such as the tag strips described belowand shown in the drawings.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “frangible” refersto any type of breakable connection between two items, such as twoanimal tags. For example, if two adjacent animal tags are formed from asingle piece of material, the frangible connection may be a weakenedpiece of material between the animal tags that may be preferentiallybroken to allow the two or more animal tags to be separated. Thematerial may be weakened by perforation, engraving, indentation,thinning, etc. Alternatively, the frangible connection may be a dryadhesive between two animal tags that is preferentially broken toseparate the animal tags from each other in a manner that is similar tothe way staples are separated from each other. A specific example of afrangible connection is shown in FIG. 52.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “human-readable”refers to indicia that may be understood by a human. Human-readableindicia may take the form of letters, numbers, symbols, shapes, colors,etc., or any combination thereof. Human-readable indicia generallycomprise indicia that are understandable by a human. Such human-readableindicia may also correspond to or be translatable into a particularnumber or letter, or any combination of numbers and/or letters that maybe interpreted by a human. For example, the sequential combination of ablue triangle, red square and yellow circle could stand for thealpha-numeric code 12A, with the blue triangle standing for 1, the redsquare for 2 and the yellow circle for A. Human-readable indicia may beread by a human using the naked eye, or, usually, given the size of theindicia of the invention, with the aid of one or more optical magnifyinglenses, a still camera, a movie camera, a video-recorder, etc. that maybe used to aid a human in reading the visible indicia.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “indicia” refers tomarkings on the plaque of a tag of the present invention. Indicia may becombinations of letters and/or numbers, and/or symbols and/or colorsand/or shapes and/or codes, etc. Indicia may be “human-readable” and/or“machine-readable.”

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “length” withrespect to a plaque with legs extending from only two sides of theplaque refers the distance across a plaque in the direction parallel towhich the legs extend from the plaque. For a plaque with legs extendingfrom more than two sides and for a circular plaque, the term “length”refers to the longest dimension of the plaque aligned in parallel withat least one leg. With respect to legs, the term “length” refers to thelongest dimension of a leg.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “machine-readablecode” refers to code that is readable by a machine, such as a scanner,computer, PDA, cell phone, etc. Machine-readable indicia are one type ofa machine-readable code, but human-readable code may be stored in adevice, such as an RFID tag, that is mounted on or mounted in an animaltag.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “machine-readableindicia” refers to indicia that are readable by a machine such as ascanner, computer, PDA, cell phone, etc. Examples of machine-readableindicia include one-dimensional bar codes, 2D bar codes, matrix codes,etc. Some machine-readable indicia may also be human-readable. Forexample, numbers, letters, colors, symbols, etc. may be bothhuman-readable and machine-readable.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “maximum diameter”with respect to a plaque refers to the longest line across the plaque,including diagonal lines. The maximum diameter of a rectangular plaquecorresponds to a diagonal distance between two opposite corners of theplaque. For example, for a square plaque that has a width and length of5 mm, the maximum diameter will be 7.07 mm, i.e., about 7.1 mm.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “partial verticalbend” and “partially vertically bent” refers to a bending of the legs ofan animal tag in a vertical direction that is performed before a finalvertical bending operation. Although in the embodiments of the presentinvention shown in the drawings and described below there is one partialvertical bending operation performed on each tag, the present inventioncontemplates that it may be desirable in some instances to performmultiple partial vertical bending operations prior to a final bendingoperation on an animal tag. Such partial bending operations may beperformed using multiple partial vertical bending dies in a single legbending die or additional partial vertical bending dies in additionalleg bending dies.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “preferentialbending region” refers to a portion of a leg of the present inventionthat is thinned, flattened, weakened, etc. so that when pressure isapplied to the end of the leg, the leg will preferentially bend in thisregion.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “thickness” for aplaque refers to the dimension of the plaque perpendicular to the upperand lower surfaces of the plaque. The term “thickness” for a leg refersto the dimension of the leg perpendicular to the upper and lowersurfaces of the plaque.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “unibodyconstruction” refers to a component that is made from a single piece ofmaterial. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, a legbending die and a shearing die may be part of a unibody die piece.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term “width” with respectto a plaque refers to the dimension that is perpendicular to the lengthof the plaque in the plane of the upper or lower surface of the plaque.For the purposes of the present invention, with respect to a leg, theterm “width” refers to a dimension of the leg perpendicular to thelength of the leg and co-planar with either the upper or lower surfaceof the plaque.

Description

The present invention relates to an applicator for animal tags andmethods of applying an animal tag of the type described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/556,896, entitled “Lab Animal Ear Tag”, to Albeeet al., filed Sep. 10, 2009, and the entire contents and disclosure ofthis application are incorporated herein by reference. The plaque of theanimal tag that is applied by the applicator is designed to besubstantially flat and immobilized when secured to an animal. Thisprevents the animal tag from catching on anything in the animal'sexternal environment, such as the wires of the cage in which the animalis kept. The animal also tends to ignore a small, flat and immobilizedtag during grooming. It is important that the animal tag have a smallsize and weight to prevent detachment from or irritation of the ear ofthe animal.

When the animal tag is an ear tag, the ear tag is designed so that theear of the animal is not crushed between the tag body and the legs as aresult of the application of the animal tag to the ear by theapplicator. In one embodiment, the plaque of the ear tag may be appliedby the applicator so that the plaque is oriented on the animal's ear atright angles to the major access of elongation of the ear during growthof the animal, thereby allowing the tag to be applied to the ears ofyoung animals and left attached for an extensive period of time (perhapsover the entire life of the animal) without tearing the ear or causingthe ear to loop out away from the surface of the plaque.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an animal tag applicator 10 of the present inventionhaving a handle comprising a front handle portion 12 and back handleportion 14. The front handle portion 12 acts as a pivotable handlemember with respect to the back handle portion 14. The back handleportion 14 is considered as a stationary handle member. A handle spring24 is disposed between the front handle portion 12 and the back handleportion 14. In some preferred embodiments, the handle spring 24 connectsfront handle portion 12 to back handle portion 14 and biases fronthandle portion 12 away from back handle portion 14. The handle spring 24may be mounted between front handle portion 12 and back handle portion14 by any means suitable for securing the handle spring 24 therebetween.

In one embodiment, turning to FIG. 3, an interior view of the applicator10 is shown. Components of the front handle portion 12 may include aprotruding portion 26 for engaging a first end of the handle spring 24.A recessed portion 28 may be disposed in a suitable location of the backhandle portion 14 to receive the other end of the spring and therebyretaining the handle spring 24 (shown in FIG. 2) in a fixed locationbetween the front handle portion 12 and the back handle portion 14.

The front handle portion 12 and the back handle portion 14 may workcooperatively during operation to actuate movement of the applicator 10.In a disclosed embodiment, front handle portion 12 is coupled toactuator 110. Both the front handle portion 12 and the back handleportion 14 may be securely attached to framework 30 (shown in FIG. 1).As front handle portion 12 pivots with respect to the back handleportion 14, actuator 110 is enabled to drive a tag from a tag cartridgeas described below. Tag cartridge 16 is preferably situated inengagement within the framework 30 of the applicator 10. In onedisclosed embodiment, the cartridge 16 includes an extended portion 32for guiding a tag strip into engagement with a gearing mechanism 33 ofthe applicator 10. As demonstrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the gearingmechanism 33 is sufficiently designed to mate with the tag stripreceived from the tag cartridge 16. When the gearing mechanism 33 isadvanced, it urges the tag strip forwardly from the tag cartridge 16 inadvancement towards tag guide 20. The gearing mechanism 33 may bemechanically coupled, for example to indexing knob 18 (FIGS. 1 and 2) toadvance the tag strip.

As actuator 110 is driven downwardly, a shearing die 31 is drivendownwardly to shear a shearable animal tag from a tag strip emanatingfrom tag cartridge 16. Shearing die 31 continues to drive the shearableanimal tag downwardly through a guide pathway 37 that extends through aguide portion of tag guide 20 so that legs of the sheared shearableanimal tag are inserted through animal ear. In a disclosed embodiment,after the legs have been inserted through the animal ear, the legs ofthe sheared shearable animal tag may be bent under a plaque of thesheared shearable animal tag by leg forming die 25 to secure the appliedthe shearable animal tag to the animal ear. Additionally, leg formingdie 25 may be employed to shear the legs of the tag such as prior tobending of the legs.

FIGS. 5-12 illustrate the bending mechanism of the applicator 10 forsecuring the tags. Turning to FIG. 7., embodiments of the disclosedinvention provide a combination of rotating pinchers 34, 36 operativelyand movably connected within a pincher frame 38. Rotating pinchers 34,36 act as bending dies employed to manipulate tag legs of the disclosedtag. Pincher frame 38 preferably includes a pincher pivot pin slot 40 ona forward face 42 thereof. A plurality of holes 44, 46 are fabricatedwithin a top face 48 of pincher frame 38. The plurality of holes 44, 46may receive adjustment set screws (not shown) for urging against acorresponding top contact surface 50, 52 of each respective rotatingpincher 34, 36. While set screws are described in the presentembodiment, any suitable means for adjusting the top contact surface 50,52 may be utilized including hand manipulation. In a disclosedembodiment, the pincher frame 38 is made from aluminum material. Thealuminum material is generally regarded as lightweight and employable inthe disclosed application. Other suitable materials, such as stainlesssteel materials, however, may be employed which is sufficient forsecuring and enabling the pinchers 34, 36 as disclosed herein.

Turning to FIGS. 5 and 6, a first rotating pincher 34 and a secondrotating pincher 36 are provided to cooperatively mate with one anotherin a final assembly. In a disclosed embodiment, the first rotatingpincher 34 may be regarded as a reward pincher and the second rotatingpincher 36 may be regarded as a forward pincher relative to one anotherin an assembled state. The first rotating pincher 34 and the secondrotating pincher 36 may comprise any suitable materials for disclosedapplications of bending and securing tag legs to an animal. Somedisclosed embodiments include aluminum for the first and second rotatingpinchers 34, 36. The first rotating pincher 34 comprises a main bodyportion 66 having a pincher pivot pin hole 54. The first rotatingpincher 34 is not only suitable configured to mate with the secondrotating pincher 36, but is also designed to operatively rotate incooperation with the applicator 10 and function to manipulate and securea tag. As shown in FIG. 5, a first pincher leg portion 68 extendsdownwardly from the main body portion 66 of the first rotating pincher34. A resting ledge 58 extends outwardly from an abutment surface 60 ofthe main body portion 66 and is integral with the first pincher legportion 68. The first pincher leg portion 68 may include an outwardlyextending angled bottom portion 76. An inner surface 80 of the firstpincher leg portion 68 may be utilized as the working surface forbending tag legs as described below.

The main body portion 66 of first rotating pincher 34 preferablycomprises a top surface 62. The top surface 62 is formed by a relativelyflat top contact surface 50 which traverses into a downwardly decreasingangled top surface 64. The main body portion 66 extends into a projectedmember 78 which is formed by the angled top surface 64, bottom surface74 and terminates at end 70. A portion 72 of bottom surface 74 ispreferably configured to cooperatively lie in on a resting ledge 86 ofthe second rotating pincher 36 in an assembled fashion as shown in FIG.6.

Turning to FIG. 6, the second rotating pincher 36 comprises a main bodyportion 66 having a pincher pivot pin hole 104. The second rotatingpincher 36 is not only suitably configured to mate with the firstrotating pincher 34, but is also designed to operatively rotate incooperation with the applicator 10 and function to manipulate and securea tag. A second pincher leg portion 84 extends downwardly from the mainbody portion 82 of the second rotating pincher 36. In a similarconfiguration as the first rotating pincher 34, a resting ledge 86 ofthe second rotating pincher 36 extends outwardly from an abutmentsurface (not shown) of the main body portion 82 and is integral with thesecond pincher leg portion 36. The second pincher leg portion 84 mayinclude an outwardly extending angled bottom portion 88. An innersurface 90 of the second pincher leg portion 84 may be utilized as theworking surface for bending tag legs as described below. Together firstrotating pincher 34 and second rotating pincher 36 form a U-shaped dieassembly.

The main body portion 82 of second rotating pincher 36 preferablycomprises a top surface 92. The top surface 92 is formed by a relativelyflat top contact surface 52 which traverses into a downwardly decreasingangled top surface 94. The main body portion 82 extends into a projectedmember 96 which is formed by the angled top surface 94, bottom surface98 and terminates at end 100. A portion 102 of bottom surface 98 ispreferably configured to cooperatively lie on the resting ledge 58 ofthe first rotating pincher 34 in assembled fashion as shown.

A retaining pin or pincher pivot pin (not shown) may be inserted intothe pincher pivot pin holes 54, 104 to retain the first and secondrotating pinchers 34, 36 in abutment to one another. Each of the firstand second rotating pinchers 34, 36 may rotate with respect to eachother around the retaining pin. When the assembled first and secondrotating pinchers 34, 36 are inserted within an interior of the pincherframe 38 (e.g., see FIG. 7), the pivot pin may be inserted into the pinslot 40 and through the pivot pin holes 54, 104 of first and secondpinchers 34, 36. The pincher pivot pin slot 40 allows the insertedretaining pin to move up and down therein. As the pin moves up and down,the first and second rotating pinchers 34, 36 are allowed to move up anddown to a degree relative to the pincher frame 38. The upper most limit45 of the pincher pivot pin slot 40 will prevent the pin from movingupward. In a rested or what may be considered a free position, theinserted pin may be situated along the bottom of pivot pin slot 40 as itretains first and second pinchers 34, 36 in place and in an assembledstated within pincher frame 38. An interior of pincher frame 38 issufficiently sized to receive the die assembly of pinchers 34, 36 toprovide enough clearance to facilitate rotation and vertical movement ofthe pinchers 34, 36 within its receiving cavity.

Turning to FIG. 8, the pincher frame 38 is shown mounted to the frameactuator 110 of applicator 10. A cut-away view of the pincher frame 38shows the first and second rotating pinchers 34, 36 mounted therein viaretaining pin or pincher pivot pin 106. The frame actuator 110 may bedirectly coupled to the front handle portion 12 (see also, FIG. 3). Asthe front handle portion 12 is urged toward the back handle portion 14,the actuator frame 110 is urged downwardly. As the actuator frame 110 isurged downwardly it brings the pincher frame 38 and first and secondrotating pinchers 34, 36 towards the die assembly stop 112 and tag 108.In the illustrated starting position, i.e., when the front handleportion 12 and back handle portion 14 are in an open position, tag legs114 of tag 108 are relatively flat, i.e., tag legs 114 lie generallyflat at zero degrees in a horizontal reference plane. In thisconfiguration, the pincher pivot pin 106 is located at the bottom 47(FIG. 7) of the pincher pivot pin slot 40 in what is considered as arested state or free position. The positioning of the pivot pin 106 atthe bottom 47 is due to gravity.

Turning to FIG. 9, an intermediate position of applicator 10 isillustrated showing a configuration of the front handle portion 12relative to the back handle portion 14 as partially closed. The actuatorframe 110 has been urged downwardly to bring the pincher frame 38 andfirst and second rotating pinchers 34, 36 closer towards the dieassembly stop 112 and tag 108. It is noted that the tag 108 stillremains flat at this point. The tag legs 114 may be in contact with theangled bottom portions 76, 88 of respective pincher legs 68 and 84. Atthis point, the tag legs 114 remain relatively flat or at zero degreesin a horizontal reference plane.

In a another intermediate position, the front handle portion 12 relativeto the back handle portion 14 is mostly closed. The second intermediateposition may be considered a further advancement of the firstintermediate position of the applicator 10. As shown in FIG. 10,pinchers 34, 36 are pushed down by the pincher frame 38 in a generallydownward direction 118 to begin bending the legs 114 of tag 108. Bendingoccurs as the contact point 116 of each pincher 34, 36 engages tag legs114 and along the inside surfaces 80, 90 (FIGS. 5 and 6) of pinchers 34,36 The tag legs 114 are generally bent downwardly, but not quite at 90degrees (from its original flat configuration within a zero degreereference plane) at the described intermediate position.

FIG. 11 illustrates an end position of the handle portion 12 relative tothe back handle portion 14. In the end position, the handle is in afully closed position (e.g., see FIG. 4). The pinchers 34, 36 are pusheddown by the pincher frame 38 in a generally downward direction 120 untilthe bottom surfaces 74, 98 (FIGS. 5 and 6) of the pinchers 34, 36 fullycontact the top surface of die assembly stop 112. Die assembly stop 112acts as a die assembly stop for stopping movement of the die assembly asit moves in a vertical direction. Thus in the disclosed embodiment, thedie assembly stop 112 prevents further downward movement of pinchers 34,36. The counteracting forces of the pincher frame 38 and the dieassembly stop 112 cause the pincher pivot pin 106 to slide up in thepincher pivot pin slot 40 (not shown in FIG. 11). Due to the appliedforce of the pincher frame 38 to the top contact surfaces 50, 52 of thepinchers 34, 36 (FIGS. 5 and 6), each pincher 34, 36 rotates aboutretaining pin 106. The angled top surface 94 (FIG. 6) of pincher 36allows pincher 36 to rotate about pincher pivot pin 106 inwardly in aclockwise direction 122. The angled top surface 64 (FIG. 5) of pincher34 allows pincher 34 to rotate about pincher pivot pin 106 inwardly in acounter-clockwise direction 124. Thus, the tag legs 114 are generallybent by the inside surfaces 80, 90 (FIGS. 5 and 6) more than 90 degrees(from its original flat configuration within a zero degree referenceplane) by rotating pinchers 34, 36. In some embodiments, the anvil 22may be configured with an undercut 126 to facilitate the tag legsbending more than 90 degrees on each side of the anvil 22. Set screws128, 130 (FIGS. 12A-12C) may be utilized for adjusting the control offinally bending the tag legs 114. The degree to which each of first andsecond rotating pinchers 34, 36 is able to rotate may also be based, inpart, upon the angled configuration of the angled top surfaces 64, 94.Although set screws are shown as adjustors in the embodiment describedabove and shown in the drawings, other forms of adjustors may be used toset a position of the die assembly.

FIGS. 12A-12C illustrate various positions of the bending processes ofthe disclosed invention. In a starting position, i.e., when the handleis in a fully open position, FIG. 12A illustrates the pinchers 34, 36positioned to engage tag legs 114 of tag 108. At this orientation, thetwo legs 114 lie generally flat at zero degrees in a horizontalreference plane. The pincher pivot pin 106 is configured to rest at thebottom of the pincher pivot pin slot 40 due to gravity. The set screws128 and 130 are adjusted to provide a prescribed bending and rotation ofpinchers 34, 36. In what may be considered as a resting position, theset screws 128, 130 may not be in direct engagement with the top contactsurfaces 50, 52 of rotating pinchers 34, 36.

Turning to FIG. 12B, an intermediate position of the applicator 10 isillustrated showing the pinchers 34, 36 engaging the tag legs 114. Thepincher frame 38 is actuated downwardly such that set screws 128, 130engage top contact surfaces 50, 52 thereby urging contact point 116 ofpinchers 34, 36 into engagement with tag legs 114 for initial bending.At this position, the tag legs 114 are bent not quite 90 degrees (fromits original flat configuration within a zero degree reference plane)per side by pinchers 34, 36. As discussed, the downward movement ofpincher frame 38 causes set screws 128 and 130 to make contact withcontact surfaces 50, 52 of pinchers 34, 36. This, in turn, movespinchers 34, 36 downwardly to cause the bottom surfaces 74, 94 ofpinchers 34, 36 to come into contact with die assembly stop 112. Thebottom surfaces 74, 94 of respective pinchers 34, 36 act as stopcontacting surfaces of the die assembly for contacting the die assemblystop 112. The counteracting force of die assembly stop 112 may causepincher pivot pin 106 to be urged upwardly into pincher pivot pin slot40 in a generally vertical direction.

At a final position, wherein the handle is fully closed, FIG. 12Cillustrates the pincher frame 38 in a final downward position andincapable of moving further due to the impedance of die assembly stop112 acting against bottom surfaces 74, 94 of pinchers 34, 36. Thecontinued pressure of the downward force of the pincher frame 38 actingagainst the upward force of the die assembly stop 112 may cause pincherpivot pin 106 to be urged further up pincher pivot pin slot 40. Inaddition, the applied force of the set screws 128 and 130 against thecontact surfaces 50, 52 causes a rotation of pinchers 34, 36. The angledtop surfaces 64, 94 are rotated upwardly within an interior of thepincher frame 38 thereby causing respective leg portions 68, 84 ofpinchers 34, 36 to rotate inwardly. This rotational movement causes thelegs 68, 84 to bend the tags 114 beyond 90 degrees (from its originalflat configuration within a zero degree reference plane) on each side oftag 108.

In some embodiments of the present invention, each plaque of each animaltag has a X-dimension (the dimension aligned with the legs of an animaltag) of at least about 0.1450 inches and a Y-dimension (the dimensionperpendicular to legs of an animal tag) of at least about 0.1050 inches.Each leg has an X-dimension of at least about 0.163 inches, anon-tapered portion X-dimension of at least about 0.142 and a Ydimension of at least about 0.018 inches. Each opening and indent has aY-dimension of at least 0.006 inches. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, each plaque in a tag strip has an X-dimension of about 0.1470inches and a Y-dimension of about 0.1070 inches, each leg has anX-dimension of about 0.168 inches, a non-tapered portion X-dimension ofabout 0.145 and a Y dimension of about 0.022 inches, and each openingand indent has a Y-dimension of about 0.010 inches. In some embodimentsof the present invention, the animal tags may have a thickness of about0.10 inches.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the opening and indentsthat form the tabs are a frangible connection that may be made byetching.

A tag strip of the present invention may be in the form of a roll havingany number of animal tags. The number of animal tags in a tag strip islimited only by the size of the cartridge in which the tag strip iscontained.

Various types of sequential indicia may be used on the animal tags ofthe strip, including human-readable indicia, machine-readable indiciasuch as one-dimensional and 2D bar codes, color-based indicia,symbol-based indicia, shape-based indicia, etc. Also, instead of visibleindicia, a strip of sequential animal tags may include animal tagshaving machine-readable codes, such as RFID tags.

Also, although particular types of legs are shown in the drawingfigures, a strip of animal tags of the present invention may havevarious types of leg configurations and types. Also, the legs may beshorter or longer in the X-dimension than the plaques in a strip ofanimal tags.

Metal animal tags and strips of animal tags of the present invention maybe made from a metal sheet by well-known processes such as laseretching, metal stamping, etc.

While the present invention has been disclosed with references tocertain embodiments, numerous modifications, alterations and changes tothe described embodiments are possible without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims.Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe described embodiments, but that it has the full scope defined by thelanguage of the following claims, and equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising the following steps: (a)supporting a tag strip comprising tags having respective pairs of taglegs that are outwardly extending so that the tag strip and therespective pairs of tag legs lie generally flat along at 0 degreereference plane on an anvil, and (b) rotating a first pincher and asecond pincher in opposite rotational directions to contact a pair oftag legs of one tag of the tag strip and bend the pair of tag legs onopposite sides of the anvil to thereby bend each leg of the pair of taglegs beyond 90 degrees relative to the reference plane.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein step (b) comprises bending the pair of tag legs intotwo undercuts on opposite sides of the anvil to thereby bend each leg ofthe pair of tag legs beyond 90 degrees relative to the reference plane.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises the followingstep: (c) manipulating the tag legs to bend the legs less than 90degrees relative to the reference plane prior to step (b).
 4. The methodof claim 1, wherein the method comprises the following step: (c)inserting each leg of the pair of tag legs through a body part of ananimal and securing each leg therein.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinthe tag legs are secured by bending each leg under the body part of theanimal.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the body part is an ear of theanimal.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the animal is a rodent.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the method comprises the following step: (c)advancing the tag strip from a tag cartridge during step (a).
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the method comprises the following step: (c)shearing the one tag from the tag strip after step (b).
 10. The methodof claim 1, wherein the each of the tags has human-readable indiciathereon.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the human-readable indiciacomprises alpha-numeric indicia.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein eachof the tags has machine-readable indicia thereon.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the machine-readable indicia comprises at least onemember of the group consisting of: a one-dimensional bar code and a 2Dbar code.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the each of the tagsincludes an RFID tag.